For most dispensing solutions of a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) tracer, a bulk tracer solution needs to be divided into several fractions. Such dispensing needs to be done under aseptic conditions, typically Class A clean room with class B background. The operations for these PET tracers, as the tracers are radioactive, are desirably conducted in a fully-automated manner within shielded cells.
Most PET tracer manufacturing sites have limited number of hot-cells with class A clean room environment. Therefore a means enabling aseptic filling in class C environment would expand the potential PET production sites that could produce the tracers. Additionally, enabling any PET tracer manufacturing site to dispense in aseptic condition within a clean room class C may be the basis for a new dispenser to be provided to a wider market (beyond tracer production centers having clean room dispensing facilities).
WO2009/100428 discloses a way to dispense aseptically fluids in a closed sterile disposable fluid path (called disposable kit) allowing thus this operation to be performed in a clean room class C whilst dispensing is usually performed in clean room class A environment. Within the disposable kit, the connection between the closed sterile vial and the fluid path is ensured by a needle piercing the vial stopper.
A pre-piercing of the stopper during assembly of the disposable kit in the factory may not be an appropriate solution for sterile connection. Indeed aging of the assembly between the time the kit was assembled and the time it is used for dispensing may lead to leaks at the piercing holes, thus compromising sterility of the connection.
There is therefore a need in the art for a means of connecting dispense vial to a dispense cassette closer to the time of dispense cassette use. There is also a need in the art for a means of connecting the dispense vial to the dispense cassette while both are still within a container or bag maintaining a sterile environment for the surfaces which will conduct a pharmaceutical product.